Durf Notes

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 850, 19 December 1929, Page 14

Durf Notes

CONDUCTED BY "EARLY BIRD

Auckland Acceptances The summer meeting: of the Auckland Racing: Club is to be held at Ellerslie course on Thursday, December 26 (Boxing Day), Monday, December 30, Wednesday, January 1 (New Year’s Day) and Thursday, January 2. Acceptances for first day handicap events (including the Auckland Cup and Railway Handicap), also final payments for the Queen’s Plate, Great Northern Foal Stakes (both run on opening day), Great Northern Derby (run on the third day) and the Royal Stakes (run on the fourth day), close tomorrow (Friday) at 5 p.m., with the secretary, Mr. W. S. Spence, at the offices of the Auckland Racing Club. Thames Nominations Entries for all events at the annual meeting on January 9 and 11 of the Thames Jockey Club close at 5 p.m. tomorrow (Friday), with the secretary at Thames, or at the same hour with Mr. F. D. McVay, at the office of the Takapuna Jockey Club. Tomorrow’s Acceptances In addition to those for the Auckland meeting, acceptances are also due tomorrow for the following fixtures: Manawatu, Taranaki, Dunedin, Westland, Wairarapa and Hawke’s Bay. Smart Filly Injured The injuries received by Kerbside as a result of running into the rails at Wingatui may prove sufficiently serious to debar her from racing for some time. The mishap is a stroke of bad luck, as she could hardly have failed to pick up a race or two in the near future. It is understood that four figures could have been obtained for the filly after she won at the Dunedin spring meeting. Good Hack One of the disappointments at Te Awamutu last Saturday was Valuation, who was accorded the position of favourite, but raced only moderately. However, that was in the Kihikihi Handicap, against open company, and relegated to hack class at Ellerslie the difference is obvious, and he should go very close to notching a clear-cut win. Valuation is up where the weight tells, but any horse front A. Tinker’s stable has come to be respected. If Valuation survives the acceptance he will probably be ridden by his trainer, who has the happy knack of finding the shortest way home.

Two Promising Ones Fairy Belle, a three-year-old filly by Paper Money from Birkenrain, is one of the latest to put in an appearance at Ellerslie. She is owned by the well-known sportsman,'Mr. J. D. Kemp, who also has the premising two-year-old, a son of Paper Money, and Jolie Fille, as yet unnamed. Fairy Belle has all the speed her .-ire imparts to his progeny, and Unis fact was never better demonstrated than at Franklin last May, when the filly filled second place to Camp Prince. Her training at present take, the form of strong pace work on the j,and.

Three Engaged The two-year-olds attached to J. Williamson’s stable, Tremetus, Thespis and Rafflight, are all engaged in the Nursery Handicap on the opening day at Ellerslie, and to date the best of the trio has proved to be Tremetus, who opened his winning account by a surprise on the first day at Takapuna recently. Tremetus is a game little fellow for his size, but weight may hamper him, for he does not appeal as a horse who will carry much.

For The West Coast It is estimated that this year there will be the largest gathering of horses ever seen at the West Coast meetings. So great has been the demand for accommodation on the Greymouth racecourse that additional boxes are being erected, but there will not be sufficient and some of the visiting trainers have been allotted to the Greymouth Trotting Club’s grounds. Jockeys’ Free-for-AII According to advices from Brisbane, jockeys indulged in a free fight at the Bundarnba racecourse on November 30. The occurrence is said to have followed the decision of the West Moreton Han-

dicap, and that before peace could be restored the assistance of the committee of the club, backed up by the police, was found necessary. What with its racing commission, sensational evidence and now free fights among jockeys, Brisbane is experiencing a lively tinTe just now. Related to- Nightmarch

Marino, a two-year-old half-sister by Solferino to Nightmarch, was among the youngsters that contested the Juvenile Handicap last week at Woodville. She is the property of Mr. A. W. Douglas and is one of the team controlled by G. W. New, at Awapuni. As a yearling she was purchased by her present owner for 485 guineas. There was nothing attractive about her essay last week, but as she was making her debut on the racing path, lack of experience probably accounted for her indifferent display. Might Have Been Worse

At the Sale (New South Wales) races on November 23 the stewards suspended Mr. D. Jones, an amateur rider, for three months for having continued in the Brush Steeplechase after his mount. Blanket, had evaded a jump. The horse evaded the same jump the second time round and also ran inside a flag, finishing in third position in the race. Mr. Jones appealed against the decision of the stewards on the ground that it was too severe. The Gippsland District Racing Association committee heard the appeal on Saturday, when the punishment was amended to a fine of £lO. Mr. Jones was severely reprimanded by the chairman (Mr. Murphy) and warned to be careful of his amateur status.

One Bright Spot During the currency of the Woodville meeting, Mr. G. M. Currie stated that the crop of fouls this year at the Koatanui stud is a > articularly likelylooking lot. Sons ai.d daughters of Limond predominate, and Pombal has a fair number of representatives, too. Mr. Currie looks like having a fairly lean season with his racing team, for Ceremony, his only real class horse this year, outside of Pomp, may not be seen out at Trentham in January, and the only pair carrying his colours at present, Pedestal and Drastic, are moderates. Pedestal is a big gelding by Thespian from Commendation’s dam Eulogy. He is a lazy customer, and may be fair when really sharpened up, but at present he does not appeal much. Drastic is a mean-looking filly, and it is doubtful if she will rise above mediocrity. She is far from robust, and is. of course, possible that she will improve with a bit of age. The only bright spot is the steady progress of Pomp, who may be fit to race again during the autumn.

Timely Before Aspiring left for the Feilding meeting track watchers at Riccarton were convinced that the daughter of Some Boy 11. and Silver Peak was getting back to her best form, and it was the general opinion that she would be difficult to beat in the Flying Handicap at that meeting. However, she missed a place in that event, but there was no disgrace in her performance. She was hurried to the track from Awapuni in a horse float, and this, combined with the state of the going, was responsible for her failure. At her next start she spread-eagled a good field on the opening day at Woodville, and followed up that success by scoring convincingly on the concluding day of the fixture. Subsequently the following paragraph appeared in the “Dominion”: “The Aspiring that raced at Feilding and the Aspiring that raced at Woodville after a week in E. J. Murtagli’s Trentham stable, were tw'o different animals. This mare is a little wonder for speed when she is right, but ;t is flying high to try for the Railway Handicap at Ellerslie.” This is hardly fair to the filly’s trainer, W. Stone. Stone left Aspiring in Murtagh’s care for a few days while he came back to Riccarton to supervise the training of the remainder of his team, but returned to Trentham on the Saturday preceding the Woodville races. Such comment is “not cricket,” comments; the Christchurch “Sun” writer, whose rebuke to the Wellington critic is timely.